LOUDONVILLE, NY – Ahead of the 2024 season, Siena Baseball first year head coach Alex Jurczynski finalized the team's roster for the spring campaign. Six incoming transfers and three additional walk-ons have brought the program's total newcomers to 21 entering the year. The incoming transfers include three players from Power-5 programs and four top-500 recruits out of high school.
"We are excited to have this dynamic group of experienced student athletes," Jurczynski said. "These players have proven track records and will come in ready to compete and help us to our goal of a MAAC Championship."
Carson Cotugno | RHP | Amsterdam, NY | Amsterdam HS | Wake Forest
Rated the 18
th best recruit and ninth among right-handed pitchers in the state of New York out of high school, Cotugno spent two seasons on the roster for the 2023 NCAA Division I College World Series Runner-Up. He was a two-time First Team pitcher at Amsterdam High School, and played in the 2019 PBR Futures Games. Cotugno enters the program as a junior.
Sam Falace | LHP/1B/OF | Colonie, NY | Colonie Central HS | Pittsburgh
Ranked the 25
th best recruit and 5th ranked overall among left-handed pitchers in the state of New York out of high school, Falace spent last season as a redshirt with Pittsburgh, and starred for nearby Colonie Central High School prior to college. He held an 0.95 ERA with 66 strikeouts against only 18 walks as a senior while leading the squad to a Suburban Council regular season title in 2022.
Austin Rachiele | OF | Pittsfield, MA | Taconic HS | MCLA
Entering Siena as a graduate student, Rachiele spent five years at MCLA as an outfielder from 2018-23, appearing in 119 career contests with a .354 career batting average. He batted .453 with 63 hits and 40 RBI's last season en-route to a slew of awards, including ABCA/Rawlings and D3baseball.com Third Team All-American honors, All-Region First Team honors from both organizations, ABCA All-Defensive Team and BEIBA All-New England First Team honors. The 2023 MASCAC Player of the Year, he set the program single-season total base record as well last season.
Matt Rowe | RHP | Metuchen, NJ | Metuchen HS | Rutgers
Joining the program as a junior, Rowe made 14 appearances over two years with the Scarlet Knights, pitching 15.1 total innings with 18 strikeouts. He assisted Rutgers in making the Big Ten Championship Game during his freshman season. Ranked a top 500 player nationally by
Perfect Game out of high school, he was selected to the 2020
Perfect Game Underclassmen All-America First Team Northeast Region squad among other national honors from the organization.
Ryan Taffe | RHP | Delmar, NY | Bethlehem Central HS | Fairfield
No stranger to MAAC baseball, Taffe heads to Loudonville after 15 strikeouts in ten appearances during his freshman season at Fairfield. He captained Bethlehem Central High School his senior year and earned
Times Union Large School All-Star honors. He was also named the
Perfect Game 18U World Series MVP, and was a
Perfect Game Preseason All-American for the Northeast Region.
Luke Ulbert | OF | Mount Prospect, IL | John Hersey HS | Morton College
Entering the program as a junior, Ulbert spent two seasons on the roster at Morton College in Cicero, Illinois, where he appeared in 102 games. The outfielder batted. 320 with 58 hits and 51 RBI's last season and was selected as NJCAA Region IV Gold Glove outfield recipient with a .980 fielding percentage on the year.
Additionally, Siena Baseball has also added incoming walk-ons Matteo Cubello (Glenmont, NY / Bethlehem Central HS), Ryan Johnston (Delmar, NY / Bethlehem Central HS), and Ayden Reyes (Altamont, NY / IMG Academy (FL)) to the roster for a total of 21 newcomers and 45 total members of the team. The team
previously announced newcomers back in the fall.